On This Day In Black History

WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES: (FILES) US civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., waves to supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial 28 August, 1963, on The Mall in Washington, DC, during the "March on Washington" where King delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech, which is credited with mobilizing supporters of desegregation and prompted the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The US is celebrating in 2004 what would have been King's 75th birthday. King was assassinated on 04 April, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. AFP PHOTO/FILES (Photo credit should read -/AFP/Getty Images)

(AFP/Getty Images)

Check here all month for “fast facts” in celebration of Black History Month. On This Day In Black History…

February 15, 1804; The New Jersey Legislature approved a law calling for “gradual” emancipation of African Americans. In so doing, New Jersey became the last Northern state to outlaw slavery

1965;Nat King Cole (45), singer and pianist, died in Santa Monica, California

1964;Louis Armstrong’s “Hello Dolly” recording becomes his first and only number one record

1984;Sarah Roberts barred from white school in Boston. Her father, Benjamin Roberts, filed the first school integration suit on her behalf

1968; On this day Henry Lewis becomes the first African American to lead a symphony orchestra in the United States